Dave Nonis has a nice, new five-year window to envision a Cup for the Maple Leafs.

But the senior vice-president/general manager better be breaking through Stanley’s front door by the time his contract extension ends in 2018. Tim Leiweke, the new CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, took a leap of faith that Nonis’ shortened season of .500 hockey, renewed optimism and long-awaited playoff gate is the start of something big. Earlier this week, Nonis was given a deal to rival the six-year pact predecessor Brian Burke received in 2008.

Upon arrival in the spring, Leiweke was quick to start squeezing out Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo after the basketball team’s repeated failures, where a little success went a long way for Nonis. Maybe too long for the likes of some who want to see real progress in a full 82-game schedule and perhaps a playoff series win before committing so much term.

“I’m not shocked by that length, but I’m definitely grateful,” Nonis said Thursday when the deal was announced. “We agreed to this a couple of days ago and it wasn’t a very drawn-out negotiation. They were under no obligation to do this. I still had a couple of years on my old contract.”

When Leiweke arrived from his old post overseeing the Los Angeles-based AEG sports and entertainment empire, the Leafs and their win-starved fans were ramping up for the playoffs, getting Nonis off on the right foot with his new boss.

“We were doing things how he wanted them done,” Nonis said. “We were in the midst of being busy and that was a good thing. We had one long meeting early on and kept in contact. We’ve meshed together very well.”

Nonis showed more gumption by swinging significant deals for Jonathan Bernier (a Kings goalie who was a Leiweke favourite), as well as trading for David Bolland from the Cup champion Blackhawks and signing another home-towner, forward David Clarkson. At 47, with time served as Vancouver’s GM and a stint with Burke as a league executive, Nonis was seen by Leiweke as the man best suited to continue building MLSE’s crown jewel. If not, Leiweke could have used his considerable influence to eventually shake a bigger name loose from another team’s masthead.

In a release, Leiweke stated: “Ownership and management felt it was critical to extend David now for a lengthy period of time and to reward him for the progression of the Leafs and Marlies (farm team). This extension will allow David the time to build his kind of team to produce steady results.

“Everyone is excited about his ability and grasp of the NHL landscape.”

Unlike Burke, who started with a bare cupboard, but banged his drum loudly and created false hope, Nonis is working with a better depth chart, though he prefers to keep a lid on the hype. Yet he won’t want to test MLSE and fan patience too much in coming years. Upon being thrust into the GM’s chair after his superior’s surprise firing by the MLSE board seven months ago, the long-time lieutenant took elements of their formula of smash-mouth hockey, but dumped some Burke favourites and tweaked the lineup with his own additions and Marlies alumni.

The changes sparked a record of 26-17-5, the club’s first above .500 since ’03-04. Toronto was a post-season underdog against Boston, rallying from a 3-1 series deficit only to lose Game 7 by blowing a 4-1 third-period lead. That underlined how much work Nonis and head coach Randy Carlyle still have to do, a task made harder in a new-look division that includes the Detroit Red Wings.

“We’ve made significant strides,” countered Nonis, “and that feels good for our players, our fans and our staff. There is a lot less to do than five years ago. And as long as we’re working at that, we feel we can do the rest.”

As for getting one of the longest deals of the nine GMs since Punch Imlach last won the Cup in 1967, Nonis refused to put a timeline on a title.

“Our goal is to get better. Year to year, it might not be in points, but it might come in an area such as cap management or what we do with our reserve list. You just keep putting yourself in a better position.

“Of course, we need to keep adding players. Some of that will come through our picks, but we’ve not had to trade a first-rounder of late and I think we’re only missing one pick next year. That’s not to say we won’t move one (high pick) in the future, but we want to build our reserve.

“The more players, the better position you’ll be in the next five years. I think we’ll be among the youngest teams in the league again this year and the Marlies will be very young, too. There will be a time to consider bold moves with our assets.”

Maple Leafs sign GM Dave Nonis to 5-year extension

Dave Nonis has a nice, new five-year window to envision a Stanley Cup for the Maple Leafs.

But the senior vice-president/general manager better be breaking through Stanley’s front door by the time his contract extension ends in 2018. Tim Leiweke, the new CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, took a leap of faith that Nonis’ shortened season of .500 hockey, renewed optimism and long-awaited playoff gate is the start of something big. Earlier this week, Nonis was given a deal to rival the six-year pact predecessor Brian Burke received in 2008.

Upon arrival in the spring, Leiweke was quick to start squeezing out Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo after the basketball team’s repeated failures, where a little success went a long way for Nonis. Maybe too long for the likes of some who want to see real progress in a full 82-game schedule and perhaps a playoff series win before committing so much term.